The
First Meeting of the Diocesan Heads of the ROC and ROCOR Held in
Tobol'sk

The first meeting of the diocesan heads of the two branches of the
Russian Orthodox Church took place in Tobolsk--Archbishop Dimitrii
of Tobol'sk and Tyumen' and Bishop Evtikhii of Ishim and Siberia,
the latter representing the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
The meeting took place at the initiative of the main federal inspector
for the Tyumen' area, Sergei Smetaniuk. During the meeting in Tobol'sk,
Archbishop Dimitrii and Bishop Evtikhii noted that before both branches
of the Russian Orthodox Church there stands a common problem--the
spiritual revival of the people. "We do not have contradictions
in our relations with parishioners, together we should unite our
efforts in our aspiration to keep for our descendants the great
historical and a cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia. The
clergy must achieve this great and scrupulous task in order to achieve
prayerful, canonical, and structural unity of the Russian Orthodox
Church, but already the first steps on the path to unification have
proven that this is the only correct decision, which has been supported
by millions of parishioners in Russia and abroad," noted Vladyka
Dimitrii.

Sergei Smetaniuk, Archbishop Dimitrii and Bishop Evtikhii visited
Abalaksky Monastery and held a meeting with parishioners. At its
conclusion, Vladyka Dimitrii invited the visitors to a moleben in
Sofiisko-Uspenskii Cathedral.

As Sergei Smetaniuk noted, unification is an internal matter of
the Church, and the state has no right to interfere with this process.
"But we shall welcome in every possible way the striving of
our bishops toward dialog, as it has great significance for the
spiritual-moral development of society. Today parishioners witnessed
the joint prayer of the ruling bishops of two dioceses; it is a
very joyous fact, for in the consciousness of the people the Russian
Orthodox Church always has been and remains one.